Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gaissmaier

Professor

Office D 512
Tel.: +49 7531 88-3024
Fax: +49 7531 88-5288
gaissmaier@uni-konstanz.de

Research interests

  • Judgment and decision making
  • Individual differences in decision making
  • Risk perception and communication
  • Memory-based decision making
  • Medical decision making
  • Ecological rationality
  • Models of heuristics

Professional experience

since 2014Full Professor of Social Psychology and Decision Sciences (W3), Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Germany
since 2014Adjunct Researcher, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
2008–2014Chief Research Scientist, Harding Center for Risk Literacy, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
2007Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
2003–2006Predoctoral Fellow, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany

Education

2013Habilitation in Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
2007PhD in Psychology, Free University Berlin, Germany
2002Diploma in Psychology (equivalent to Master’s Degree), Free University Berlin, Germany

Honors and awards

2013Rising Star, Association for Psychological Science
2012Fellow, German Young Academy, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities & German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
2009Dissertation prize (runner up), German Psychological Society, Section: General Psychology
2008Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements, Max Planck Society
2006New Investigator Award, Brunswik Society

Publications

Gaissmaier, W., Wilke, A., Scheibehenne, B., McCanney, P., & Barrett, H. C. (2016). Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers. Journal of Gambling Studies, 32, 143-156.
doi: 10.1007/s10899-015-9539-9

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Gaissmaier, W., & Neth, H. (2016).  Die Intelligenz einfacher Entscheidungsregeln in einer ungewissen Welt.  Controller Magazin, 41(2), 19–26.

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Kendel, F., Helbig, L., Neumann, K., Herden, J., Stephan, C., Schrader, M., & Gaissmaier, W. (2016). Patients’ perceptions of mortality risk for localized prostate cancer vary markedly depending on their treatment strategy. International Journal of Cancer, 139, 749–753. doi: 10.1002/ijc.30123

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Donner-Banzhoff, N., Seidel, J., Sikeler, A.-M., Bösner, S., Vogelmeier, M., Westram, A., Feufel, M., Gaissmaier, W., Wegwarth, O., & Gigerenzer, G. (2016). The phenomenology of the diagnostic process: A primary-care based survey. Medical Decision Making. doi: 10.1177/0272989X16653401

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Oertelt-Prigione, S. Seeland, U., Kendel, F., Rücke, M., Floeel, A., Gaissmaier, W., Heim, C. M., Schnabel, R., Stangl, V., & Regitz-Zagrosek, V. (2015).  Cardiovascular risk factor distribution and subjective risk estimation in urban women (BEFRI study): A randomized cross-sectional study.  BMC Medicine, 13, 52. doi: 10.1186/s12916-015-0304-9

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Gigerenzer, G., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015). Decision making: Nonrational theories. In J. D. Wright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (2nd ed., Vol. 5). Amsterdam: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.26017-0

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Hautz, W. E, Kämmer, J. E., Schauber, S. K., Spies, C. D., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015).  Diagnostic performance by medical students working individually or in teams.  Journal of the American Medical Association, 313, 303–304. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.15770

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Monteiro, S. D., Sherbino, J. D., Ilgen, J.S., Dore, K.L., Wood, T.J., Young, M.E., Bandiera, G., Blouin, D., Gaissmaier, W., Norman, G. R., Howey, E. (2015).  Disrupting diagnostic reasoning: The effect of interruptions on the diagnostic performance of residents and emergency physicians.  Academic Medicine.  doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000614

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Wilke, A., Scheibehenne, B., Gaissmaier, W., McCanney, P., & Barrett, H. C. (2015).  Illusionary pattern detection in habitual gamblers.  Evolution and Human Behavior, 35, 291–297. doi: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.02.010

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Gigerenzer, G., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015).  Intuition und Führung.  In M. W. Fröse, S. Kaudela-Baum, & F. E. P. Dievernich (Eds.), Emotion und Intuition in Führung und Organisation.  Heidelberg: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-07796-9_2

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Bodemer, N., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015). Risk perception.  In H. Cho, T. Reimer, & K. A. McComas (Eds.). The Sage Handbook of Risk Communication (pp. 10–23). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Moussaïd, M., Brighton, H., & Gaissmaier, W. (2015).  The amplification of risk in experimental diffusion chains.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 112(18), 5631-5636. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1421883112

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Multmeier, J., Gaissmaier, W., & Wegwarth, O. (2014). Collective statistical illiteracy in health.  In B. L. Anderson & J. Schulkin (Eds.), Numerical Reasoning in Judgments and Decision Making About Health (pp. 39–58).  Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

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Gaissmaier, W., Anderson, B. L., & Schulkin, J. (2014).  How do physicians provide statistical information about antidepressants to hypothetical patients? Medical Decision Making, 34, 206–215. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-07796-9_2

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Kause, A., Prinz, R., Gaissmaier, W., & Wegwarth, O. (2014).  Risikokompetenz von Ärzten und Patienten.  In K. Hurrelmann & E. Baumann (Eds.),  Handbuch Gesundheitskommunikation (pp. 424–439).  Bern: Huber.

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Kämmer, J. E., Gaissmaier, W., Reimer, T., & Schermuly, C. C. (2014).  The adaptive use of recognition in group decision making.  Cognitive Science, 38, 911–942. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12110

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Norman, G., Sherbino, J., Dore, K., Wood, T., Young, M., Gaissmaier, W., Kreuger, S., & Monteiro, S. (2014).  The etiology of diagnostic errors: A controlled trial of system 1 versus system 2 reasoning. Academic Medicine, 89, 277–284. 

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Sherbino, J., Norman, G. R., & Gaissmaier, W. (2013). In reply to Croskerry and Tait. Academic Medicine, 88, 150–151.

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Treverna, L. J., Zikmund-Fisher, B. J., Edwards, A., Gaissmaier, W., Galesic, M., Han, P. K. J., King, J., Lawson, M. L., Linder, S. K., Lipkus, I., Ozanne, E., Peters, E., Timmermans, D., & Woloshin, S. (2013). Presenting quantitative information about decision outcomes: A risk communication primer for patient decision aid developers. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 13(Suppl. 2):S7, 15

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Heesen, C., Gaissmaier, W., Nguyen, F., Stellmann, J.-P., Kasper, J., Köpke, S., Lederer, C., Neuhaus, A., & Daumer, M. (2013).  Prognostic risk estimates of patients with Multiple Sclerosis and their physicians: Comparison to an online analytical risk counseling tool. PLoS ONE, 8(5):e59042

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